Shawarma Soldier

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Susan

Two years ago, I ate the kebab to end all kebabs. My always-hungry friend Z was visiting. I had an appointment to get my hair cut on Church Street, near Marylebone. I told him he could come along, poke around the antique sellers, and get a kebab from Lahore restaurant across the street, which sets up a kebab stall on market days. An hour into my appointment Z turned up with the most gorgeous lamb shish roll. The lamb was succulent, tender, and medium-rare with a hint of char, and complemented by crunchy salad, the homemade roti wrap was warm with that perfect chewy bite to it, and the sauces – one a garlicky yogurt sauce, and one a hot sauce – struck just the right balance of salty, savory, tangy, and spicy. The kebab plunged us into a fevered discussion of why there are no proper kebab shops in Seattle and spawned my quest to try all the delicious kebab rolls in London. Continue reading →

Lamb, Mint, and Almond Meatballs with Saffron-Almond Sauce

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Susan

Life in the new flat is not all wine and roses. Since my move in early October, I’ve been contending with the Never-Ending Kitchen Remodel. You know, that delightful pastiche featuring those charming rascals, the Slapdash Contractors, with supporting roles played by the Goddamn Shitty Appliances. The first time I attempted to use the oven I turned on the timer rather than the heat, and couldn’t figure out how to turn it off. It ticked loudly tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick until I worked out how to get the heat on and blew all the fuses in the kitchen. Sarf-East cockney contractor Del-boy came round an hour or two later and put the oven on its own fuse. Once the oven was reconnected the timer started ticking again tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick. Del-boy scratched his head, muttered something about not being boffered, and skulked off. Saturday I brought home beef bones to roast for stock, at which point I learned the oven doesn’t actually work, as in doesn’t get hot. I stomped around crankily and may have whined a bit about wanting to roast things. Lovely Flatmate called the truculent nameless Polish contractor, who looked in the oven and said, “I can’t fix. You need specialist.”

So, still no oven. The timer works though. There it is now, tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick. Continue reading →

Curried Neck of Lamb with African Yams and Okra

Posted on March 17, 2012 by Susan

This blog post tests the theory that contemporary food blogging is 95% about food photography and 5% about the food. I am very much aware that Susan eats London has been suffering lately from a paucity of posts, especially recipe posts. The reason for this is that for the past two and a half weeks, I have been without my beautiful Nikon SLR camera. I left it in a McMenamin’s in Olympia, Washington, where I had lunch immediately before going to the airport to return to London. (It was found and is being mailed to me. In my defense, I was under a fair amount of stress at the time.) But I have been cooking lovely food and testing delicious recipes, many of which I hope to blog once my dang camera finally gets here. This recipe, however, I photographed using my recently-acquired hand-me-down iPhone 3G. I will be the first to admit that the photos are not stellar. But this recipe is in true blogger-on-a-budget spirit. It’s made using the most inexpensive ingredients, it’s got great flavours, and it is something you could proudly serve at a dinner party. Continue reading →